Hampton v. Blackmon

145 So. 3d 632, 2014 WL 2894305, 2014 Miss. LEXIS 309
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedJune 26, 2014
DocketNo. 2013-CA-00315-SCT
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 145 So. 3d 632 (Hampton v. Blackmon) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hampton v. Blackmon, 145 So. 3d 632, 2014 WL 2894305, 2014 Miss. LEXIS 309 (Mich. 2014).

Opinion

WALLER, Chief Justice,

for the Court:

¶ 1. Charles Blackmon and Dexter Booth sued Malaco, Inc.; N.J. Pockets, Inc.; and Callop Hampton (owner of Hamp’s Place Night Club) on a premises-liability claim. The plaintiffs settled with Malaco. At trial, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Hampton. Hampton filed a post-trial motion, requesting the trial court to impose sanctions against Blackmon, Booth, and their attorney, Joe Tatum, for filing a frivolous lawsuit and to award attorney fees. The motion was denied, and Hampton appealed that judgment to this Court. We affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 2. Hampton designated no transcript, and no testimony of the trial was made a part of the record. This Court is unable to know what facts were established at trial. The following facts are gleaned from depo[634]*634sitions, motions, police reports, and other documents found in the record.

¶ 3. Blackmon, Booth, and Jharoski Davenport were leaving Hamp’s Place Night Club and returning to their car when they were shot in the parking lot of Malaco, Inc. Davenport was killed and Blackmon and Booth were injured. Black-mon and Booth filed a premises-liability complaint against Malaco and Hampton. The Malaco parking lot is about 100 yards from Hamp’s Place. Essentially, the plaintiffs averred that the parking lot of Hamp’s Place Night Club was full when they arrived, but a man was motioning people to park in Malaco’s lot and was charging $5 to park there.

¶ 4. After filing an answer, Hampton’s attorney asked Booth’s and Blackmon’s attorney to dismiss Hampton from the lawsuit, because the shooting did not take place on Hampton’s property. After they refused, Hampton filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing the shooting did not take place on Hampton’s property and that Hampton did not own, operate, or regulate the Malaco parking lot.

¶ 5. The trial court denied Hampton’s motion for summary judgment, finding there were genuine issues of material fact. Hampton filed a motion to reconsider, which also was denied. A panel of this Court denied Hampton’s interlocutory appeal. Malaco was later dismissed from the suit, leaving Hampton as the sole defendant. After a trial on the merits, a jury returned a verdict in favor of Hampton. Thereafter, Hampton filed a motion for sanctions under Rule 11 and the Litigation Accountability Act. The plaintiffs also filed a motion for sanctions.

¶ 6. A hearing on the matter was held before the trial court. The transcript of the hearing was made a part of the record. The crux of Hampton’s argument was that Booth’s and Blackmon’s attorney, Joe Tatum, should have known “that a premises security lawsuit cannot be maintained against an individual or entity who does not own, operate, or possess the property where the assault in question took place,” and, further, that Tatum cited no Mississippi cases in support of his argument. Tatum argued that the plaintiffs had offered to dismiss Hampton from the suit a year before trial, which Hampton admitted. However, Hampton argued that more than a year had transpired before the offer to dismiss, and Hampton wanted to clear his name at trial. The trial court denied both motions. Hampton filed the present appeal from this order.

DISCUSSION

I. Whether the trial court erred by denying Hampton’s motion for sanctions.

¶ 7. The decision to award monetary sanctions is left to the discretion of the trial court. See McNeese v. McNeese, 129 So.3d 125, 130-31 (Miss.2013); In re Spencer, 985 So.2d 330, 337 (Miss.2008); Miss.Code Ann. § 11-55-1 (Rev.2012); Miss. R. Civ. P. 11. This Court reviews a judgment denying sanctions for abuse of discretion. In re Spencer, 985 So.2d at 337. “In the absence of a definite and firm conviction that the court below committed a clear error of judgment in the conclusion it reached upon weighing of relevant factors, the judgment of the court’s imposition of sanctions will be affirmed.” Id. (citations and quotations omitted).

¶ 8. Rule 11 states that, if the trial court finds a motion or pleading is frivolous or is filed for the purpose of harassment or delay, the court may order such a party ... to pay to the opposing party ... reasonable expenses.... Miss. R. Civ. P. 11. A claim is frivolous when the claimant has no hope of success. See [635]*635Leaf River Forest Prods, v. Deakle, 661 So.2d 188, 196-97 (Miss.1995) (citation omitted). Thus, sanctions would be inappropriate if the plaintiff had some chance of success. Choctaw, Inc. v. Campbell-Cherry-Harrison-Davis and Dove, 965 So.2d 1041, 1044 (Miss.2007) (quotation omitted).

¶ 9. The crux of Hampton’s argument in his motion for sanctions was that the assault occurred in Malaco’s parking lot, and Hampton did not own, operate, or regulate that parking lot; thus, there was no substantial justification or hope of success for Tatum to maintain a premises-security claim against Hampton.

¶ 10. In response, Tatum argues that other states “have not hesitated to hold a premises owner liable for injuries occurring in an adjacent or nearby parking lot where the premises owner makes use of that lot.” See e.g., Southland Corp. v. Superior Court, 208 Cal.App.3d 656, 250 Cal.Rptr. 57 (Cal.App.1988); Ember v. B.F.D., Inc., 490 N.E.2d 764 (Ind.App.1986). Thus, Tatum argues there was evidence to support his theory that, where a business owner benefits from using a nearby parking lot, he could be held liable for injuries occurring to his patrons there.

¶ 11. Hampton cites generally two Mississippi cases, Gatewood v. Sampson, 812 So.2d 212 (Miss.2002), and Alqasim v. Capitol City Hotel Investors, 989 So.2d 488 (Miss.2008), in support of his argument that “Mississippi law ... holds a premises liability lawsuit cannot be maintained against an individual or entity, who does not own, operate or possesses the premises where the assault takes place.”

¶ 12. In Gatewood, a gas-station patron using a pay phone on the premises was shot by armed robbers leaving the gas station after a heist. Gatewood, 812 So.2d at 216-17. This Court stated the general proposition that business owners owe a duty of reasonable care to protect patrons “from attacks by third parties while they are on [the business’s] premises.” Id. at 219. Further, this Court stated that the duty extends to “the parking lot area around the building.” Id. (citing Lyle v. Mladinich, 584 So.2d 397, 399 (Miss.1991)). In Alqasim, a hotel invitee was shot in the leg during a robbery in the hotel’s parking lot. Alqasim, 989 So.2d at 491. The Court quoted the above passage from Gatewood regarding the duty of care imposed on a business owner. Id. at 491-92.

¶ 13. We find Hampton’s argument is without merit. This Court has found that, “[t]o deem a question of law ‘frivolous, groundless in fact or law or vexatious’ merely because there is not existing Mississippi law on the subject would have a chilling effect on all litigation of first impression.” Anderson v. B.H. Acquisition, Inc., 771 So.2d 914, 922 (Miss.2000) (quoting Scruggs v. Saterfiel, 693 So.2d 924, 927 (Miss.1997)).

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Merchant v. Merchant
S.D. Mississippi, 2025
Mark D. Herbert v. Nina L. Herbert
Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2023
John Doe v. Jane Doe
Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2021
Sandra Jean Oliver v. James C. Oliver, Jr.
Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2019
Sean McDowell v. Zion Baptist Church
203 So. 3d 676 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2016)
Toulman D. Boatwright, Jr. v. Grace Bonds Boatwright
184 So. 3d 952 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2015)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
145 So. 3d 632, 2014 WL 2894305, 2014 Miss. LEXIS 309, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hampton-v-blackmon-miss-2014.